BUDGET hotel chain Travelodge is building 35 hotels this year and creating 700 jobs in the UK.

The company has no plans to build any hotels in this region, but is spending £300m to boost its portfolio to 495 hotels.

In addition, the company has also announced it has increased it’s growth targets and plans to have 1,100 hotels by 2025.

Guy Parsons, Travelodge chief executive, said: “The hotels we will build this year have been a result of Travelodge’s commitment to expand during the recession while many companies put their development on hold.

Last year, we exchanged on 96 sites making it a record year.”

“Fifty two of these exchanges were part of the biggest transaction in the hotel sector since 2008 with the pub chain Mitchells and Butlers.

“As a result of the recession, we have acquired superior sites due to lower market property prices, which otherwise would not have been available for hotel use.

More than half of the Travelodge hotels being built this year are in major UK cities.

There are eight being built in London, with three opening this year, meaning Travelodge will become the largest single hotel brand in the capital this spring.

Over the past five years, Travelodge has focused on city centre growth rather than its roadside locations.

These motorway and trunk route sites represent a quarter of the company’s stock, with the remaining quarter in suburban, seaside and tourist locations.